Written by

Jinelle Shengulette

Three years ago, a master's student approached Jeff Lodge, an associate professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, about growing algae to produce biodiesel, a type of fuel. Lodge oversaw the project, which began in a 30-gallon tank and evolved - after discovering that algae grew very well in wastewater - to a 1,000-gallon tank at Environmental Energy Technologies, an RIT startup.

Along the way, the team monitored nutrient levels of the wastewater and found that the algae effectively cleaned the water and reduced levels of ammonia, phosphate and nitrate by as much as 99 percent. With a ...